A 50-year-old woman accused of murdering a man in Central West New South Wales and feeding his body to his animals seven years ago has been found not guilty.

Kylie So let out a sigh of relief as she was acquitted of murdering 71-year-old Robert Dickie in 2016.

Handing down his verdict in the Sydney Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Mark Irace said given Mr Dickie’s lifestyle, he couldn’t rule out foul play involving someone else.

“Mr Dickie had associations with multiple local people who had long-term issues with prohibited drugs, who in turn had strong connections with criminals,” he said.

Mr Dickie’s body has never been found, but Justice Irace concluded was he dead.

“There is a reasonable possibility that he had agreed to meet a person … and that they killed him, disposing of his phone either with or without his body in a catchment area of the Telstra cell tower at Elong Elong,” he said.

Septic tanks, dams searched

Ms So, who is transgender, was extradited from New Zealand and charged with Mr Dickie’s murder in 2020.

The Cambodian-born sex worker first met Mr Dickie when she travelled to Dubbo from New Zealand in 2011 and visited his property nearby at Elong Elong.

She returned in June 2016 to stay with Mr Dickie, thinking he was committing to a long-term relationship with her.

She stayed at his property, and he went missing four days later.

Ms So told police Mr Dickie left his property to head to a party on June 14, 2016, telling her he would return that night.

Mr Dickie was last seen at his neighbour’s house that day.

Septic tanks were drained and police divers scoured dams during extensive searches of Mr Dickie’s home and the surrounding properties, but no trace of his body was found.

Almost a year later, a forensic examination of Mr Dickie’s bedroom found blood matching his DNA on the underside of the carpet and on the bed frame and mattress.

It was the Crown’s case that Ms So “fatally assaulted” Mr Dickie, when he told her she could not stay long-term at his Wattle Road home.

Crown prosecutor Liam Shaw argued she then disposed of his body, possibly feeding it to pigs and pitbull terriers on his property, before cleaning the blood on the carpet, and washing or disposing of bed linen and other items that may have been bloodied in the assault.

But the judge said there was no evidence that Mr Dickie was fed to his animals, and that the blood found in the bedroom could have been unrelated to his disappearance.

Justice Irace said Ms So was of “good character”, and a person who was unlikely to react with “extreme violence” at being asked to leave.

Possible ‘criminal associations’

Throughout the seven-week trial, the court heard Mr Dickie had a history of obtaining sexual services from vulnerable young women, by paying them cash or helping them access drugs.

The court heard email records also showed Mr Dickie corresponded with a number of women overseas inviting them to Australia, promising marriage and financial security.

The court also heard someone unknown called Mr Dickie on June 13 several times, and the history of the phone suggested it could have been used by a person with criminal associations.